Regarded by many as the ultimate pre-war Rolls-Royce, the Phantom III was unveiled to the public at the October 1935 Olympia Motor Show, but did not go on sale until May 1936. A fabulous design that reasserted Rolls-Royce's right to be considered as the world's finest car maker, it's cruciform-braced chassis featured independent coil-sprung front suspension, a fully-floating 'live' rear axle, hydraulic shock absorbers and gearbox-driven servo-assisted four-wheel drum brakes. Only built for three short seasons, just 727 examples were made before the outbreak of war put a halt to production.
It was powered by a highly sophisticated 7.3-litre V12 of light alloy construction mated to a four-speed manual gearbox (complete with synchromesh on second, third and fourth), that gave it a 100mph top speed. The engine was derived from the V12 developed for Schneider Trophy-winning aeroplanes and, providing it received aircraft levels of maintenance, it was superb. In 1937 a Phantom III was driven from London to Nairobi and back, covering 12,500 miles in 34 days driving, averaging 370 miles a day, including the Sahara crossing and the dreadful roads of Central and East Africa. Apart from problems with tyres, the car gave no trouble whatever - not even a drop of water was added to the radiator.
However, engine failure was not uncommon and many cars have been retro-fitted with less demanding units. First registered in April 1937, this Hooper-bodied Phantom III Limousine is one of those cars and was long ago fitted with a 7.6-litre straight-eight Rolls-Royce engine. This was fully rebuilt with new pistons in April 2006 at a cost of over £7,300 – since when it has covered less than 5,000 miles.
The back axle was also fully rebuilt by Hoffmans of Henley in August 2002 (about 6,000 miles ago) at a cost of £6,500. In January 2007 (about 1,000 miles ago) the car was treated to a major service during which a new heater was fitted. In the current ownership since 1988, when it was valued at £50,000 by the R-R Enthusiasts Club, the car has been mainly used for wedding work during the last two decades – a role at which it excels.
Currently taxed and with an MOT until March 2009, it comes with a fair amount of history including many old MOTs back to 1988 at which point it was showing 96,450 miles on the clock (now around 12,200 miles). Altogether a most attractive looking car with an excellent record of recent maintenance.
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